Byakko No Miko
by Ispreno
Summary: A silverhaired female is drawn into a fantasy where conspiracies, plots and dark secrets will unfold. This story is incomplete, though marked complete. This is because it's currently pending a rewrite as well. Look forward to the new BNM, coming soon.
1. Prologue

**::Byakko No Miko:: Prologue ::**

"Why don't you shut the hell up! She's mine and I'm taking her with me!"

"You must be dreaming! Who was the one who borne her for 8 months, then painfully gave birth to her? She is mine, Mister, why can't you get it into your puny little head?"

"Oh yeah? But do you actually have the means to bring her up? I doubt so!"

"Whatever made you think I can't? I can and I will!"

(((Slap)))

"You slapped me?!"

"Just so you know that us males are forever superior to women, and I AM THE ONE WHO WILL GET CUSTODY OF OUR DAUGHTER!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! So try and stop me…"

"Daddy… Mummy… Please stop fighting… Ria is saying please… Please…" A little girl stands in the open doorway, clutching a tattered doggie plushie by its paw, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.

"Please… PLEASE!" 

A figure bolted upright in bed, her chest heaving with each deep breath she took. Her platinum blond hair fell forwards as she coughed slightly, sticking to her wet face. She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead as she looked around in the darkened bedroom, searching for her prized possession.

"Brownie…" Caerria murmured softly as she picked up the soft doggie plushie that rested at the foot of her bed, and hugged it tenderly. She smoothed the plush's ears behind its head, and looked into its beady little eyes.

"I… I dreamt of them again…" She said, pulling the covers up so that it covered both her and the plush completely.

"They were fighting again… As usual," A bitter laugh escaped her lips, and she closed her eyes.

"I never knew how they could stay together even after I was born, especially since they had been fighting way before that," Her brows furrowed, and she opened her eyes again to look into the innocent eyes of the puppy.

"Love, you say?" Caerria asked the toy.

"But it hurt. For Mom. For Dad. For me. Why would loving someone constitute such pain?" She murmured quietly, turning to look out of the window next to her bed.

It was snowing.

Caerria laid her cheek on the windowpane, the sharp pain of the cold glass bringing fresh tears to her eyes.

Snow.

Blood.

Her reflection showed clearly against the glass, and she could see her eyes, grey against the milky white of her skin, and platinum blond hair framing her heart-shaped face.


	2. Chapter 1

**::Byakko No Miko:: Chapter 1 ::**

Caerria awoke to the incessant ringing of the alarm clock next to her bed.

"What the…" She muttered in annoyance, and knocked the kawaii Hello Kitty alarm clock off the bedside desk with the back of her hand, as was her routine every morning. It clattered noisily onto the wooden floor, and… disappeared under the bed.

Caerria moaned.

"Darn, why do I have to do that every morning when I know I've got to crawl under the bed to get it back…" She picked herself off the bed for a moment, then flopped back onto it.

(Too tired… to move…)

She had been up till about two reading up on some Chinese literature, then compiling a report on it. Not that it was a chore. She loved the Chinese culture and whatever that came with it, including… surprise, homework.

"Yawn…" Caerria laid in bed for a moment, looking out of the window. Her grey eyes searched the clear cerulean skies. For what, she didn't know. She just did it every morning, strangely enough. 

"Hmm?" She sat up, a sudden realization dawning in her eyes as snatches of last night resurfaced momentarily in her mind.

(Wasn't it… snowing last night?)

Unless she had been dreaming, there was no way there could have been snow last night, but the roads free of sleet and ice, no trace of the semi-solid H-Two-O whatsoever.

(Maybe…maybe, I was dreaming…)

Caerria thought with a wry smile.

She slid out from under the covers, slipping on the soft bedroom slippers by the bed, and plodded over to her wardrobe, where she pulled out a white shirt and black pleated skirt that was the uniform of Jonan Academy, her current high school. The outfit also included a black tie, and a beret in the same colour, which Caerria laid next to the uniform.

Then, stripping herself of her pyjamas, she pulled on the top of her karate uniform, which was the next best thing to a bathrobe, grabbed her towel, and left the bedroom.

She shared the apartment with two other girls, both older than her, one a photographer, and the other a teacher. But that was just all that she knew of them, besides their names.

"Ohayougozaimasu, Silk-san, Yuui-san," Caerria smiled at the women sitting at the coffee table, who simply smiled and nodded politely in return.

And that was all. The interaction between Caerria and her two apartment-mates never exceeded more than 10 words in a sentence, even if it was time to pay rent, since Silk-san, the photographer, never pressed for the money. Not that **she had to be pressed for rent. She paid punctually enough, thankyouverymuch.**

As Caerria was about to enter the bathroom, she suddenly heard a voice call her.

"Silk-san?" She turned around. 

Maybe this day would be an exception and they would actually exchange eleven words for a change.

"Aisu-chan. Just for your information, there will be someone new renting the room opposite yours," Silk Ran said, watching the silver-haired youngster as she digested this new piece of information. She found the girl especially interesting, and with the professional eye of a photographer, she also knew that the girl was a perfect subject. It was just that she had refused, time and time again, to be photographed.

"Hai, Silk-san," Caerria replied, before turning to enter the bathroom again, but a call from the brunette made her turn back again.

"Hai?" If she was giddy from all that spinning around, she definitely didn't show it.

"It's a male, this time. Akira Ross, age twenty, researcher," Ran said with a wink.

(What the?) (She's acting like… Like she's trying to introduce him to ME?!)

Caerria's thoughts showed plainly on her face, which triggered off laughter from the two adults.

"What? Do I have 'matchmaker' written all over my face?" Ran asked the girl mischievously. To say the truth, she was rather surprised. She never saw Caerria's emotions outright before. Never. Maybe this topic would make her livelier.

"Uh no… but--" Caerria was cut off by a loud "Itai!" from Ran, who had leapt up from the chair she had been sitting in, glaring at the person who had given her a good pinch on the arm.

"Miyuki!" 

The last Caerria saw as she disappeared into the bathroom, was Ran advancing on the seated Yuui-san, growling.

"Itai!"

!!-!!

By the time Caerria emerged from the bathroom, the two adults had already left, leaving her alone in the large apartment she had called home for the past 3 years. She was walking back to her room, drying her shoulder-length hair with her towel, when she took a cursory glance at the clock in the living room.

"Fifteen minutes?!"

Caerria made a mad rush for her room, and pulled on her clothes in a hurry before dashing out of the house.

As soon as the front door slammed shut, it was reopened again, and a black figure ran to her room, dove under the bed, hitting her elbow on the case of her zither, and grabbed her Hello Kitty alarm clock from under the bed, setting it on the bedside desk, before dashing out of the house again.

!!--!!

Hey, just your lovely author(ess) here. I never write author's notes, seems kinda weird typing a reply to someone's review on Microsoft Word, if you get what I mean.

Anyways

To Meta Lise: Thanks :D

To Arreis Kurai: The spaces btw paragraphs are there cos I'm somewhat of a freak when it comes to paragraph spacing, lol.

To Hydra-star: Hey thanks for the suggestion. Seriously, I used to have more imagination than a simple (((Slap))), but I guess this sort of thing goes with age :D

To Rhapsody: Arigato! :D

In case you didn't understand that last part, it just means Caerria's a neat freak :D


	3. Chapter 2

**::Byakko no Miko:: Chapter 2 ::**

"Damn those sickening idiots!" Caerria snarled unpleasantly under her breath as she passed a bunch of girls standing by the main gate of Jonan Academy on her way out, talking in low conspiratorial tones and shooting her strange looks.

(Scum of the earth, the world would definitely be a better place without them.)

Caerria kept her face smooth, showing no trace of the tumult of emotions beneath the surface. She didn't want to give those bitches the satisfaction of seeing her pissed. Sure, they had talked behind her back, humiliated her in front of the whole class by stealing the Chinese Culture essay she had stayed up to complete, said to her face that she was a bloody asshole know-it-all who walks with her nose in the air, etc.

But WTF.

She didn't want to think about it anymore.

They could say whatever they want, she didn't care, couldn't care, wouldn't care less.

She was used to it by now.

_Silence by Aisu Caerria_

_The silence_

_Seems dark and forbidding_

_A presence_

_That lingers_

_Even when all is gone_

_I hear it._

They saw her as proud, a loner, a bloody stuck-up bitch who didn't want to speak with anyone other than herself.

Was she?

Perhaps. But she loved the silence. The silence that came with not speaking. The silence that seeped into one's bones and made its presence known with a shrill sharp whine.

The peace and quiet.

"You put her down this instant! I won the court case and you know it, so she is mine now!"

"Yours? She is yours? You are treating her like some kind of possession! What kind of father are you?"

"I…I am not! Who says I was…"

"Well YES YOU ARE! Look Kei, I know what happened to us was a mistake right from the beginning, but that gives us no reason to treat our daughter here like some kind of thing…"

"A mistake? All that love and care for each other was simply a mistake?! Alexandra…"

"Shut up. I'm leaving."

Caerria stepped out of the lift and strode down the corridor leading to the entrance of her apartment. As she neared the large wooden door that was the only thing that barred her from finding solace in her books and music, her footsteps quickened… and stopped dead.

The door was ajar.

A billion thoughts were running through her head. Had she left the door open? Was there a burglar in the house? Or maybe it's just the both of them. But Ran and Miyuki weren't due home just yet. Or maybe Ran was home early… Freelance photography was pretty flexible…

She reached a tentative hand towards the grainy polished oak, and as her fingers found the glistening brass doorknob, Caerria pushed the door open.

The sight of numerous brown cardboard boxes littering the narrow doorway and the living room beyond left her speechless for a moment.

Then a burning blaze of flame exploded from within her.

"Akira Ross huh? Researcher and highly eligible male? If you asked me for my opinion, I'd tell you that he's just a big dumb-block who doesn't know the meaning of the content printed on the flyers found in the post every week with the big neon words SECURITY IN THE HOME," Angry and embarrassed, Caerria stormed through the house, silver hair streaming out behind her from under the smart beret on her head, and screeched to a stop in front of the room door.

With a sharp knock, she most –impolitely- shoved the door open with a simple maneuver of her wrist, and came face to face with a …

"Library?!" Caerria's voice was a mixture of incredulity and disbelief.

Why the hell was there a library in the apartment?

She backtracked out of the room, looked around for a moment to determine if this was truly her house, then stepped into the room again.

"This is…" The word 'ridiculous' got stuck in her throat as she glimpsed the spines of a few of the books close to her.

"Fantastic!" Caerria took a book that caught her eye down from the shelf (one of a dozen on the wall) and flipped through it eagerly. "I've been after this book for months!"

As she flipped through the book, slowly but surely getting absorbed in its pages, a sudden scratchy noise drew her attention.

She whirled around immediately, dropping into a defensive combat stance, froze for a moment, then slowly straightened up when all she saw was a book, its pages fluttering slightly in the light breeze that was blowing in the window, on a small sofa bed in the corner.

"So this **IS **that Ross' room then," Caerria said with a smile as she walked over to the bed. She knew this was most impolite, poking around in people's rooms like that, but with a dozen books on Chinese culture/history/philosophy/mythology lining the walls of this room like that, never mind basic manners, not even a bulldozer could keep her away.

"Wow…" A small gasp of awe escaped her lips as she picked up the other book on the bed.

(Where was that Ross guy anyway?)

"Shijin Tenchisho?" She opened the book with gentle hands.

"_This is the story of a girl_

_who__ single-handedly gathered the Seven Stars of Byakko_

_and__ gained the power to make all of her dreams come true. _

_The story itself is an incantation_

_and__ whomever reads it gains the main character's power_

_to__ have their wishes granted. _

_As soon as the page is turned,_

_the__ story will become real and begin."_

Fluent Chinese spilled from her lips as Caerria read the words on the pages out loud.

(Hmm… Ancient Chinese… Interesting..)

Then, she turned the page.

!!-!!

OOoh… a little cliffie, eh? I just had to do it, since I didn't in the previous chapter. I meant to, you know :D but spared you guys since I was going on holiday.

See what a good authoress I am :D

BTW

This was a rather long chapter for me, so I trust you guys will be satisfied for now huh :D

Anyway

To Rhapsody: Daughter of the Sky: Aww… (I guess it's not a gd idea to thank you again cos you'd say welcome and I'd say thank you and you'd say welcome and I'd say thank you and that sort of thing) Anyway, here's the chapter (you've finished reading it)

To Hydra-Star: Um… I think I agree with you on the yawn thing. Hmm… Shoulda tot of that earlier… Or maybe she should go "WoaaArrr" or something of the sort. :D And with the thoughts thing, as long as the words are on the same line, they are being thought by the same person. I separated the two to show a pause. Thank you for correcting/pointing out my mistakes or where I can improve on. Really. Thank you.

To avariel: I know who you are all right…. And I like silver haired chars, so, sue me.

To Meitantei Lili: Thank you so much for the compliments :D and I loved your wallpaper.


	4. Chapter 3

**::Byakko no Miko:: Chapter 3 :**

The sharp bright light that enveloped Caerria left her blinded and disorientated for a moment, and as she brought up a hand to shield her eyes from the glare, she found, to her horror, that she was falling through the air.

"What the hell…" The words were torn out of her throat by the rushing wind that whipped her hair around her face, and left her with little or no visibility. Her clothes were threatening to rip themselves apart, and Caerria suddenly had a horrible feeling that she might die a very untimely death on the branches of one of the trees dotting the landscape below her.

This was one of those times when she hated gravity.

At first contact, Caerria nearly fainted from the pain that shot through her limbs. The tree limb she landed on gave way, and she fell down, shattering one branch after another.

The rough texture of the bark scraped her limbs raw, and her arms and elbows had cuts inflicted on them by the leaves. (Apparently, at high speed, even leaves become lethal.) And all over, Caerria felt battered and bruised.

As she fell onto the cold damp ground, Caerria had a moment's realization that this wasn't where she was supposed to be… and then she blacked out.

!!-!!

"Argh…" A barely audible moan slipped out from her lips as Caerria felt her consciousness returning to her. She opened her eyes, and blinked in the muted light of the room.

(Where am I?)

Shadows danced on the scant wooden walls of the room, and her befuddled brain took in the fact that the only light in the room was coming from the flickering flames of a fire quite a distance away from where she lay, and…

Caerria blinked fiercely. She couldn't see all that well. But unless… no, it couldn't be…

(My contacts!)

She tried to bring a hand to her eyes to check, but a heavy clunk alerted her to the fact that she had chains on her. Chains that shackled her limbs AND didn't allow for much movement. It was only now that her mind took in the fact that she was currently a prisoner. Damn. So those blurry blobs… She squinted.

Ohh…Ugly fat hairy men who were feasting on unidentified bloody meaty bony hunk of thingie. Now that was something she saw everyday.

Right.

"Ouch." She squeaked as she shifted an arm.

The fact that her body ached too much for her to stay confused/ puzzled/ befuddled was both good and bad. On one hand, she was awake, and able to defend herself, if barely, from them icky men. On the other hand, she HURT. Not those little pinpricks of pain, but a huge roaring one that surely meant she had broken something. Who wouldn't? She had crashed through a TREE, mind you, and a prickly pokey branchy one at that.

Wide awake, Caerria's alert eyes roved around her surroundings, taking in whatever she could. She needed to escape, and fast… Waitaminute, what was she thinking?

Even if she managed to escape, she would probably be caught less than a minute later, given the fact that she was so totally _badly_ hurt.

(No, no, BANISH negative thoughts… Must stay positive…ly sure that I will be ending up dead…)

She stifled a sob. She didn't want to die so young! She wasn't even old enough to drink yet! How could Heaven be so cruel… One minute she was at home, prying through people's belongings, and the next, she was falling through the sky and now stuck with a bunch of ugly men!

(Hold on a second… I _WAS_ PRYING THROUGH SOMEBODY ELSE'S STUFF JUST NOW! How did I suddenly end up here?)

It took a moment for Caerria to realize that she had just spoken out loud… and that the bad guys knew she was awake.

"Heh heh… Look, the girl's awake," The one closest to her was brandishing a chunk of bloodied meat, and she shuddered as he leant back to leer at her.

"Yeah… Time to have some fun heh?" Another laughed out loud, licking his lips as he gave her a long 'meaningful' look.

(Aargh! Someone save me!)

"Boss!" A younger male voice rang out amidst all the gruff baritones. All eyes swiveled to focus on a young male, who had stood up from his place in a dark corner. The features of his face were indistinguishable due to the dim light, but Caerria could see his dark eyes glittering from under the cloak of hair that had fallen across his face.

Hope leapt in her heart.

"Yes lad?" The man who had spoken first spoke gruffly, sticking a finger in his nose as he did so.

"You…promised," The reply was hesitant, but one could hear the determination in the voice.

"Ah yes. Yar brave, lad, speakin' up lyke this," Caerria heard the note of amusement in the voice, as did several others, who sniggered loudly. "Right, she's yours."

"What?! Boss, ya promised us we coulda have a go…" Protests came from almost every part of the room, but Caerria was hearing none of it. She felt as though a bomb had just gone off in her head.

Too stunned to respond, she was pulled roughly to her feet, then unceremoniously dragged to an adjoining room. 

As the thin wooden plank that served as a door closed behind them, closing out all the raucous noise, Caerria fell to the floor.

!!-!!

Hello, it's just me again, with another cliffie!

Haha, I know you guys hate me, but I couldn't resist… Hee…

Now, for reader replies, though Hydra-star was absent from their ranks this time, sadly.

Anyways,

To Eulene: Oh you lovely lovely girl! *muackz*

To kat: Thank you!

To *__mEl__* : This is an original story, not the Byakko no Miko in the show :D And in case you didn't notice, she's more *now* Thanks for reviewing!

To Summer Pastorale: Thank you :D

And last but not least, my first reviewer for Chapter 4 part one, Silver Sky 45: *curtsies* Thank you for all the compliments :D Hope you continue reading!


	5. Chapter 4

**::Byakko no Miko:: Chapter 4 ::**

They were… alone.

Her, and the unspeaking young bandit.

Alone, in a dark, small room, empty except for a couple of raised wooden planks one corner – a bed.

Caerria attempted to sit up, but winced as a sharp pain shot through her side, causing her to fall back onto her elbows, the impact jarring them painfully onto the dirt floor. 

The few seconds in which that young bandit had pulled her across the floor and dumped her so unceremoniously onto the floor had obviously been more than enough to shift some more broken bones of hers around in her body to god-knows-where.

"Are you alright?" A male voice drifted out of the darkness, startling Caerria out of her stupor. She whirled around, a feat almost unimaginable to someone this injured, and came face-to-face with the young man aka bandit.

(His voice.)

Was she imagining it, or did he… for a moment, sound un-bandit like? Or even… cultured?!

Her eyes narrowed. Was he trying to act nice now so that she'd pleasure him more willingly? Not a chance.

Caerria turned her face away from him, and painfully pushed herself off the floor, hoping to give herself an advantage in height so she could, possibly, free herself. She struggled to stand as the chains bruised her wrists painfully, the sheer weight of them causing Caerria to nearly fall face-flat onto the floor.

Soft footfalls came from behind, and Caerria suddenly found the chains slipping off her wrists and ankles as the young man unlocked the padlocks which held them in place.

Free of them chains, she immediately straightened her back and turned to face the captor. To her surprise, she found that he towered over her, with her chin only barely reaching his shoulder. This was quite unusual, given the fact that she usually was taller than most of her male peers. His shoulders were broad and carried a sword slung casually across them, his bold and calm demeanor making her more than believe he could use that weapon as well as she used her hands and feet.

Caerria recognized the signs and immediately fell back from her captor, her eyes desperately searching the room for any way to escape. As her gaze fell on the young man again, she was incensed to see a slow smirk spreading across his face.

"What… are… you… smiling… at…?" She forced the words out through her teeth, her eyes flashing menacingly.

The man tapped a finger on his chin as he thought. "Hmm… I don't know. I suppose I'm feeling a bit sympathetic towards you…"

"Sympathetic?" Caerria spat the word out as though it was something dirty. Through his cloak of hair, she could see his brows arch slightly.

"More like laughing at my predicament, feeling decidedly amused at my futile attempts to escape, poking fun at the pathetic situation I'm in!" She threw the words into his face, and to her surprise, felt a lone tear streak through the patterns of dirt on her cheek, down… down… Caerria was almost sure she heard it fall onto the ground.

She turned away, and used the back of her hand to smear the traces of weakness from her face. She didn't hear him until he was right behind her.

"Sorry." The lone word hung in the still air between them.

"Huh?" Waitaminute, did she just hear him apologise?

He coughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I did just apologise."

Caerria turned around to face him. His face was unreadable, hidden from sight by a cloak of black hair which shone slightly in the dim moonlight. She reached a hand out to brush the hair from his face, but he jerked back with a sudden movement, as if stung, and turned away from her. She let her hand fall, a hot flush filling her face.

"……" Silence reigned once more, until the young man picked up something from the ground nearby and plonked it in front of Caerria.

"This is?" She squinted to see what it was, but once her hand touched it, she recognized the rough canvas material as that of her schoolbag. With a cry of delight, she pulled the bag into her lap, then felt the things inside it.

(Here… they are all here… my possessions…)

"You… Thank you." She whispered softly.

They looked at each other in silence till a loud hammering at the door caused the both of them to jump in fright.

"Hey Aki, you done with that girl? We want to have a go too, so don't tire her too much, eh?" Boisterous laughter followed that rude comment, both of which filtered under the door and into the ears of the two.

Caerria took a step backwards.

He wasn't really going to rape her, was he?

The young man took a step towards her, then sighed when he saw her back away from him again.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you," His voice filled the space between them, and he watched as her shoulders slumped visibly in relief, then all of a sudden, tense up again.

"How can I be sure of that?" She said, watching his movements closely. If he so much as took a step towards her, she was going to try and knock him out… painfully of course.

She thought she saw him roll his eyes as he walked to another end of the room. There, he felt the walls for something, then slowly pulled a neat square of wood out of the space it was in, cold air immediately blowing in through that hole in the wall.

"A secret exit? You're letting me go?" She whispered to herself almost disbelievingly, walking to stand next to him in front of the hole in the wall. It smelt cold and damp outside, and Caerria wrinkled her nose at the smell of decay.

"I **am** letting you go," He said, rolling his eyes again. He just couldn't believe how dumb the girl was. Anyone in his right mind would have jumped out of the hole immediately instead of staying to ask his captor if he was freed. _Girls._

"You sure? You'll probably get into trouble you know, letting me go like that," Caerria said. She knew what he was thinking, that she was the dumbest thing on earth. Who ever heard of a fish asking the fisherman if it were freed when it was thrown back into the water? But she was a bit worried for him. Those guys outside were definitely not to be trifled with, and if they found out that she got away…

He turned to regard her with a strange look. "Just go. They won't do a thing to me, I'm sure of that." She thought she saw a gleam in his eyes as he said that, but shook it off as a trick of the light.

"If you say so…" Caerria muttered under her breath, then stepped out of the hole. She limped a few paces, then turned back to look at her saviour.

He stood there, unmoving, as though a statue, until she raised a hand to wave to him. Then, he grudgingly raised his, and waved a goodbye.

She smiled, then limped off into the darkness of the forest.

!!-!!

Hello ppl, nice to see you guys again! Gomen ne, it's been sooo long since I last updated… It's all because of school and homework and all that… Yeah, sucks I know. My mom won't let me online AT ALL cos of my O levels this year as well… Totally bleh.

Anyway, the only reason why I'm online is because I'm sick. Yeah, fell sick. But it _could_ be a blessing in disguise, no? *grins*

Reader's replies:

Chibi-face: Thank you for the compliments, I am pleased you liked my story so much. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you. :D

Sidelong: Wowee! Is that really you? Sidelong? *double-checks* Oh boy, it IS you! You can't imagine how happy I am seeing you review my story, seeing the fact that I so absolutely love **Trials. :D I hope you continue to read my fics, and be sure to review! (PS: The Daine fic will take a while to get out, so sorry! But I'll be sure to get it out… some time.)**

Eulene: Gomen ne, I haven't read your fic in a while, but I will be sure do so, not to worry! (PS: Leaving readers hanging is the absolutely most best thing that an author can do to torture them, so be sure to do more of it *evil laughter*)

Gapz~: Arigatou! I like Caerria a lot too!


	6. Chapter 5

**::Byakko no Miko:: Chapter 5 ::**

The rough canvas strap of her bag chafed her bare skin painfully as Caerria stumbled clumsily through the undergrowth of the forest. Her shirt had gotten ripped at the shoulder, courtesy of a low-lying branch which had whacked into her when she had momentarily lost consciousness. Not that she knew even if she did lose consciousness. The dark depths of her mind, and the black of the forest were all but the same to her…

She had been wandering in the forest for god-knows-how-long. She couldn't see the moon, thanks to the thick canopy of the forest, which would have told her where she was going, so she was terribly, hopelessly lost. In the wilderness.

Yes, the sounds of rustling, cicadas screeching, only seemed too real to her. She was no longer tempted to lie to herself, that she was dreaming all these stuff up. Her imagination was much too stagnant for that kind of thing. And besides, the throbbing in her leg was much too painful to ignore.

"Ugh!" A misstep caused Caerria to fall forwards, and she landed hard on the small twigs and stones which littered the floor of the forest. That, woke her up. She pulled herself agonizingly into a sitting position as she tried to fight the waves of giddiness washing over her.

(My arm…)

She lifted her aching right arm into view. It and its torn sleeve were stained red, she saw, in the dim moonlight that filtered sparingly into the forest through the high canopy.

It hadn't occurred to her that she was **that** injured.

Caerria tried to flick her fringe out from her eyes to take a better look, but the stubborn hairs only stuck wetly to her forehead. The fingers of her better arm reached up to finish the job, but they came away, slick with blood. Had she hurt her forehead too? She gently prised caked blood from her face. The wound felt serious.

A fresh flow of blood dripped into her vision, staining the things around her red.

(Great.)(As if cold, dark and damp surroundings weren't enough, now it was cold, dark and **red **surroundings.)

She struggled to her feet.

She had to go on. She **had **to, if she did not want to get eaten by some animal in the forest…whatever animals there were. In this condition, she'd be much too easy prey, even for a caterpillar.

_And._The guy who let her out. What is he got found out?? Then the others would come after her, possibly to silence her, since she knew the location of their hideout. Well… not exactly, but it was somewhere behind her, she was sure. Oh, and they'd possibly have some fun while they were at it, lustful creatures that they were. The way they looked at her, you'd think that there were no brothels for a 100-mile radius.

Caerria stopped short. And rewound her thoughts.

(No brothels.)

If there were none of those places where those men could have went to seek fun, it possibly meant that there were no cities or towns or villages in the vicinity of the place, which meant, that she was possibly…

Stranded.

(Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.)

Caerria tried to make herself go forwards, but her body wouldn't listen to her.

(This paralysis…)

Her body was much too afraid to move… To continue moving into the unknown…

A cold wind swirled around her, and the last thing she saw was a glimpse of white, before she was swallowed up into the depths of her own mind.

!!-!!

The warm feel of sunlight on her eyelids made Caerria slowly come into consciousness. She vaguely heard a tinkling female voice call a name, one she couldn't hear quite properly. Then there were soft, cat-like footfalls.

"Hello…?" A pleasant male voice sounded close to her ear. The voice was like a knife which cut through the haze in her head, and her eyelids slowly fluttered open.

"Are you awake?" The voice sounded again.

Caerria blinked hesitantly in the bright sunlight. Directly above her, looking down at her, was a face, thrown into shadows by the sunlight so she couldn't really make out the features. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain made her fall back softly into a pile of cushy material.

She blinked for a moment. She was…? All of a sudden, her last waking memories came in a furious torrent, and she whimpered in pain, clutching her head with her hand.

"Ouch…" As the pain eased off, she noticed two people watching her intently from where she laid, in a sea of soft pillows.

The male had long black hair which was layered fashionably from short to long, from the front to the back, and the longer portions were brought together and tied neatly to lay flat at the small of his back. He wore a deep green knee-length coat over a lighter green ensemble inside, and finished off with a dark black sash which was the same shade as his pants.

The female had exquisite features set within a pale white face, and her hair was a deep yellow, the colour of ripened wheat, and brought up in a high half ponytail with the rest falling smoothly down her back and along the sides of her face. She wore a similar ensemble as the guy, except that hers was in varying shades of red, and the pants she wore were white.

Both wore worn leather boots the same hue as their clothes, and standing next to each other, complemented each other so each stood out in all their splendour (or colour ^^").

(What a beautiful couple.)

She stared at them for a moment, then spoke, "Where am I?" For she was in a bedroom the size of the one at home, except much sparsely furnished, and not on the cold, damp floor of the forest where she was sure she had fainted. Had these guys saved her… or what?

"You're in..."

!!-!!

Tra lalala la~ I'm back~~

With another cliffie~~~

Omg I can't believe how evil I am~ Finally back in so many weeks and I chuck ANOTHER cliffie in your face?! Oh dear… my poor readers… heh ^^

Anyway,

Metajoker: Thank you for all your reviews. I've said whatever I wanted to say in my email.. ^^

Eulene: Hey girl, no need to feel sorry, I'm feeling even worse cos I never went to read your story for so long… Sowwie!

Starry Knight: Arigato for your review!! I'll be sure to continue to support your fics… ^^ Also, I'm glad you like Caerria… I like her too (even better than Miaka I might say ^^) Aand~~ A double serving of Byakko people coming right up!! ^^

Goodbyee everyone, till next time… :D 


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